Lynne
Hello Barb, I am sorry to hear that you are suffering with this frustrating disease. I have had fibromyalgia for over 15 years and know how very frustrating it can be when your family does not understand the degree of your pain. It is such a conflicting and confusing disease that sometimes I find it hard to believe myself. It seems that no two days are the same. One day it is my upper body, the next day my legs, sometimes my left side of my body, and sometimes the right side. When I have major flare ups then I hurt all over usually for months at a time, combined with total exhaustion and depression. Does this sound familiar to you? I bet it does. It is hard to know one day to the next how we will feel tomorrow. It interferes with daily living. Our families and friends do not understand how one day we can do something and the next day we can't. On my good days when I feel able to take on a difficult task, I get yelled at. My family tells me I am only looking for trouble and going to end up hurting and whining tomorrow. They just don't get it that I hurt all the time. The only time they hear about it is when the pain is absolutely unbearable. I just want to do all that I can when I am up to the task because I never know when I will be able to tackle that chore again. It could be weeks or months. Even on my best days I still hurt. I also am taking sleeping pills and pain pills. I know these are not the answer and that the true way to control the disease is through (very) light excercise and a healthy diet combined with naturopathic and vitamine suppliments. I believe the root of the disease may actually be linked to the toxins in our bodies and although pills may help to control the pain to a degree, at the same time are probably a major contribution to the problem as a whole. I have tried to get off the pill cycle for the past three years. Everytime I go to see a doctor to say I think the medications are causing me half of my problems they just prescribe some other pill to counteract the other medications. It is a cyclical effect as we become depen- dant on the drugs which in turn intensifies the severity of the disease. The problem is how to know which pill to wean away from first. It is like playing a game of Jenga - if we stop taking the wrong pill before our system is ready our whole body will collapse. There are homeopathic experts who can guide us when we are ready to try that route. I think it takes a tremendous force of personal will power to overcome this cycle, but when it comes right down to it we are the only ones who can heal ourselves. I wish you good health! Lynne (Nova Scotia, Canada)